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Sunday, March 22, 2009

FIRST READING(Isaiah 65:17-21) Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

"I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit."

GOSPEL(John 4:43-54) Jesus Jesus departed to Galilee. For he himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.

So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast, for they too had gone to the feast. So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine.

And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill.When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.Jesus therefore said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe."

The official said to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies."

Jesus said to him, "Go; your son will live." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went his way.

As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was living. So he asked them the hour when he began to mend, and they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."

The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live"; and he himself believed, and all his household.

This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.

In John's Gospel, seven signs (miracles) are recorded "to help you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, so that through this faith you may have life in His name" (Jn 20:31). These signs, worked by Jesus, are:

1. changing water into wine at a wedding (Jn 2:1-12), 2. a remote healing of a royal official's son (Jn 4:46-54), 3. curing a man who was ill for thirty-eight years (Jn 5:1ff), 4. multiplying the loaves and fishes (Jn 6:1-14), 5. walking on the water (Jn 6:19), 6. giving sight to the man born blind (Jn 9:1ff), and 7. raising Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11:1ff).

After Jesus' first sign, His disciples began to believe in Him (see Jn 2:11). Then, many began to believe in His name when they saw the signs He was doing (see Jn 2:23). However, Jesus recognized an innate problem with working signs: our sinful human nature. He observed: "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you do not believe" (Jn 4:48). Many people either looked for more and more signs (Jn 6:30) or misinterpreted the signs because they were not seeking the truth (Jn 9:16). The end result was: "Despite His many signs performed in their presence, they refused to believe in Him" (Jn 12:37).

So Jesus gave a once-for-all final sign: the sign of the cross. Jesus, God Himself, set aside His power (Jn 18:6, 11), stretched out His arms, was nailed to a cross, suffered in agony, and died to atone for our sins. He rose from the dead in power and majesty, and gave us the Holy Spirit (Jn 20:22). This sign had power. This sign broke through the hard hearts. "Lift high the cross!"

PRAYERTeach us, good Lord,to serve thee as thou deservest;to give and not to count the cost;to fight and not to heed the wounds;to toil, and not to seek for rest;to labour, and to ask for no reward,save that of knowing that we do thy will;through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.St Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556)